In surgery, it is common practice to utilize a large number of small, expendable, surgical elements, principally semicircular needles, each being preattached to a surgical thread. As the number of implements is increased, the problem of accounting for every implement is increased. A further problem is to minimize the chance of injury or infection from accidental contact with the implements.
Examples of disposable collectors for surgical implements are shown in the following patents: 3,727,658, 3,944,069, 4,008,802, and in Application Ser. No. 006,732, filed Jan. 26, 1979, for DISPOSABLE SURGICAL NEEDLE COLLECTOR.